


running to

by owlinaminor



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Backstory, Character Study, Friendship, Gen, Other, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 14:43:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2154447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlinaminor/pseuds/owlinaminor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>when asked about it later, Rocket will say, “we were escaping separately from the same place at the same time.  closest thing to destiny a pair of assholes can get, ya know?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	running to

**Author's Note:**

> subtitle: betsy is really emotional about talking raccoons and walking trees
> 
> (also, I apologize to all gotg comic enthusiasts, because this is probably nothing like canon)

your cage is so big and you are so small.

there are shiny walls with pictures that shimmer into view and a soft floor with dirt to soften your roots and cool water pumped in often enough that you never go thirsty, but it is a cage nonetheless.  your captors wear large glasses and poke at you with sharp tools.  you try to shy away from them.  you are too small.  they catch you.

they want to know what you are.  you learn to understand their conversation, these monsters with their endless questions questions questions.

time passes, and they do not seem quite so big any more.  they want to know what you are.

“i am groot,” you tell them.

they ask you to tell them more.  their fingers hover over sleek pads with bright colors and swiftly moving pictures.  their eyes are wide.  they want to uncover your secrets.

“i am groot,” you repeat.

it is not enough.

* * *

the day comes when your cage is too small.

you are not sure if the cage grew smaller or you grew taller, but it does not matter.  what matters is that you peer out to the other side of the glass and the people watching you step back, their fingers shaking almost imperceptibly as they make notes on their glowing screens.

they poke at you with sharp tools and the tools do not stick.  your hide is thickening.  you want to see a world outside of cold glass and shimmering pictures and white white white.

and the day comes when they raise their voices and demand to know what you are.

“i am groot,” you roar.

you are big you are enormous you are too much for this prison.  it is so easy to crash through their walls and shake their glasses from their faces.  the bright images flicker out, leaving only blank canvasses for you to paint red.

you run.

there are loud noises.  blaring sirens and pounding feet and screams.  so loud.  too loud.  you are still surrounded by white and there are people all around you and you do not know where you are going.

they scream that you are running away.  you are not running away, you are running _to_ , but you do not know how to tell them.

you will grow until they cannot face you anymore.

* * *

there is still white but there are less people.  you hear running feet that are too small to be your captors.

“which way are ya goin’?” a voice asks.

you look down.  there is a curious creature staring up at you, hands on his hips.  he is perhaps one tenth your size, but he glares as though he matches you foot for foot.  he has beady, black eyes and a pointed face.  he carries a gun his own weight easily in the curve of one arm.  he is brown.

“you gonna answer me, big guy?” he says.  “which way are ya goin’?”

you are going outside.  you are going to see the stars, fly among then, discover their secrets.  you are going back to your home to make sure your family is safe.  you are going to do your best to spread kindness to everyone you meet, because there is no point to living if it is not to love.

“I Am Groot,” you tell the creature.

he looks at you for a long moment.  his eyes widen until you are certain you can see stars in their depths.

“well,” he says, “I just wanted to know which way you were plannin’ on goin’ down the corridor, but that’s all good, too.”

you smile.  it’s refreshing, to smile – you hadn’t done it with this body until now.

you reach down and offer him your arm.  he clambers up, easy as taking a flight of stairs two at a time, and settles on your shoulders.  the weight is nothing, and it is everything.

“the name’s Rocket Raccoon, by the way,” he tells you as you begin to run down the hall.  “came up with it myself a few minutes ago, whaddya think?”

“I Am Groot,” you reply.

“hey, well, it was the best I could think of in a hurry,  I’d like to see you do better.”

* * *

and Rocket sits on your shoulders, and you see the stars.

it isn’t quite what you expected, but it’s all you wanted.  you haven’t found home yet, but you will, you’re sure of it.  you steal sometimes, but it’s only so that you can fly.  they try to put you in cages, but they never win.

you are bigger than any cage.  you are a galaxy.


End file.
